[Backwoods]

....on the 10 point I took on the first day of rifle season <u>2008</u>.

I keep calling the guy and he tells me it is "almost done" or "only a couple more days" or "you will have it by the end of the week" or "3 more days and it will be done, I'll call you".

Yet here I am waiting for my buck. I gave the guy half of the money and the other half is sitting there just waiting.

I even told him if he couldn't finish it that was fine, just give me back my antlers and my money.

He also has a ringneck from 2008 that my Stapdad took to him. He says that is done too but it "needs a day or too to be fully ready".

I don't know what to do with this guy. This is very upsetting and I am tired of waiting. Since 2008 come on! Any advice?

 

[fordman99]

...I'd be knockin' on his door!!!

 

[mag10]

Took two years to get back a snow goose that my son harvested. Was told upfront that it would be at least one year. In retrospect, if my son were not with me, I would have gone to someone else.
Did I mention it cost $425??
A hard, expensive lesson learned: call first to get prices and wait times...

 

[hdt]

How about a name so that others don't have it happen to them? Have you tried stopping at his shop?

 

[beck_trt]

I might know something. Whats the taxidermists name?

 

[Fly Guy]

Wow, I have heard the line you can not rush perfection, but 2008 . . . It is time to knock on this guys door. I knew a guy that did some tax. work and he told me that the more a person called the farther back on the list his work went. . . needless to say I took my cape/antlers to the guy he badmouthed the most. That is the best mount I ever got. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[6.5-284BMF]

I've got a buck at a taxi around here too. since Nov 06. He won't answer or return calls. Natures tales was his name. POS in my opinion.

 

[PADingo]

WOW! '06...unacceptable. I'd be at the guys door a few times a week.

 

[Paul C]

I've got a buck at a taxi around here too. since Nov 06. He won't answer or return calls. Natures tales was his name. POS in my opinion.

Have you visited his studio and talked to him in person? Did you have a deposit on the piece? Or did you just drop it off at the cheapest place you could find and left without leaving a deposit or getting an invoice?

 

[jun1or]

geez, my stuffs back well within a year, deer and fish. i would personally go pickup my stuff if i was you.

 

[6.5-284BMF]

Have the reciept he made out. I deposited 180$ of the 330$ owed. He never answers and won't return calls. So if I go there I'm sure there will be some type of arguement. I go to Dave Dillion now and get my stuff back within a year. I know people who have got ahold of him made arraingments to go pick something up and he won't be there when you get there. Then never returns your call.

 

[icemole]

Call the state attorney generals office. I called told them my story. They sent me a form to fill out, before I got the form the taxi called. I don't know if it was coincedence or if they called him for his story.

 

[Loggy]

If he is licensed...file a complaint with the Pa Board of Prof Licensing. Also, file complaint with AG office in Hsb.

 

[Sekora]

I'm pretty sure I know who your taxidermist is. I've heard that same story over and over again and it always involves the same guy. Good luck getting it back.

 

[Fly Guy]

Well, I am still interested in who this guy is! Any chance you'll let us know?

 

[6.5-284BMF]

Mine was Natures Tales Taxidermy in Monogahela Pa.

 

[turkey4life]

heres some advice, if you go to a taxi in november with an archery buck you just killed and you see lots of bear and deer still in there from the previous year that arent complete yet leave amediatly. some taxidermist become so overwhelmed they fall behind by two years or more.

My uncle got his buck back in about 4 months. I took my fish to a taxi this spring and he was finishing up the last couple bucks and bears that week then he was on to turkeys and fish. he said he would be done with my fish sometime in august.
There is no excuse for a taxidermist to take over a year to get a mount done, they just get so far behind it takes them a year to get to your animal.

 

[Paul C]

heres some advice, if you go to a taxi in november with an archery buck you just killed and you see lots of bear and deer still in there from the previous year that arent complete yet leave amediatly. some taxidermist become so overwhelmed they fall behind by two years or more.

My uncle got his buck back in about 4 months. I took my fish to a taxi this spring and he was finishing up the last couple bucks and bears that week then he was on to turkeys and fish. he said he would be done with my fish sometime in august.
There is no excuse for a taxidermist to take over a year to get a mount done, they just get so far behind it takes them a year to get to your animal.

That's a pretty broad brush you're painting all taxidermists with there turkey4life. There are LOTS of reasons a taxidermist could be taking so long. The most common of which is that in today's economy he/she simply could not make a living at the cheap prices he/she was charging and so had to get another job to survive. Those "cheap prices" are, most likely, what drew all those clients there in the first place. Had the taxidermist priced his work appropriately he would have been able to make a comfortable living returning specimens in a timely manner without a 2 year backlog simply because the price checkers and "bargain hunters" would have gone to the "cheaper guy" down the road.

A one year return time is the NATIONAL AVERAGE and an acceptable standard for quality taxidermy work. In fact, in most of the cases I have seen, if a taxidermist is able to promise an astonishingly quick return time he is either a beginner with no other work, is cutting corners on quality just to get the jobs out quickly or is a "veteran hack" with no work because no one wants him touching their stuff. Super quick return times, like really cheap prices, should be a RED FLAG to a discriminating taxidermy client. Check QUALITY first, then return time and then, and only then, price.

 

[JUST FISH]

That's a pretty broad brush you're painting all taxidermists with cheap prices and quick turn around times Paul C. I have yet had a unsatisfied client with, and I will list them in your order, QUALITY, 4 month turn around and very cheap prices compared to some.

 

[Fleroo]

Paul C. I have to question your way of thinking. Who in their right mind doesn't "shop around" before jumping into an investment ? Whether it be a couch, a car, a dog, or a deer head. In 1995, I took a Buck to a Taxi for a shoulder mount. He came on the recomendation of a friend. I paid $150.00 which was dirt cheap. To this day, it remains the best mount I have gotten, and $150 was dirt cheap even in the mid 90's.

My apologies if I am incorrect, but didn't you hold some sort of "seat" in the PA Taxi Assoc. or something like that ? I would think your advice could be better. You probably shouldn't be telling folks that, in so many words, they are "cheap" for taking on services at a cheaper price than most offer. Being cheap vs. expensive has nothing to do with quality of work. Your advice should be more like..... shop around for a reputable person, check their work, and more power to you if you get a great price